Hard to believe now, but there was a time when Lee Keegan was not that bothered with Gaelic football.
The reigning Football of the Year was big into his rugby as a teenager, travelling to Galway three times a week for training. But GAA? Not really for him.
“I was a bit of a tearaway when it came to Gaelic. I just didn’t have the interest, I didn’t see the attraction.
“My friends were into Gaelic, but I wasn’t into it. I was happier chilling at home than going down to the GAA pitch,” he says in an expansive interview in the Mayo News.
On Sunday Westport take on Kerry champions Kenmare in the AIB All-Ireland intermediate football semi-final. Keegan will be there, proudly sporting the light blue of his home town as they look to make history.
It was only after he dropped out of an engineering course in GMIT and returned to Westport that he really developed a love of Gaelic football – a love that would see him become one of the best players of his generation.
Not bad for a fella who couldn’t make the GMIT Freshers team.
In the interview with Mike Finnerty, Keegan outlines the major difference between lining out for Mayo and playing for his club.
“The difference is there’s no media spotlight on you! It’s nice to go out and play football, and play with lads who are doing better jobs than I am. There’s nobody telling anyone to give me the ball, or telling me to do what I do with Mayo. I just go out and play my part like everyone else. I can’t wait for next Sunday.
“I’m laid-back about playing football, I don’t see the point in getting uptight about playing a big game, with Westport or Mayo. You’ve trained hard enough for long enough that you should be able to go out and enjoy these days.”
You would wonder why Keegan enjoys playing away from the media spotlight…
Westport face Kenmare in Ennis at 2.15pm on Sunday.
